Rallying Your Leadership Team: Putting Evidence-based Decision Making into Action National Association of Secondary School Principals Annual Conference Tampa, FL March 10, 2012 Kristen Wilcox, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Education Nancy Andress, Educational Consultant Agenda • Overview of the NYKids project • Research Findings • Tools to help schools use the findings and resources • Q&A Mission • Inform – web displays of achievement data • Inspire – reports, cases of high performers, best practice framework • Improve – on-line tools and institutes “If you do what you always did, you’ll get what you always got.” – HS Administrator (NYKids HS Study) http://www.albany.edu/nykids/ Inform – data re: every school in state - Performance trend charts Cluster charts Opportunity gap charts Achievement by subgroup charts http://www.albany.edu/nykids/ Inspire & Improve – learn from the higher performers Inspire Seeking to answer: What have others done? And how? • • • • Individual School Cases Cross-Case Reports Best Practice Frameworks w/ evidence Books What makes elementary schools work A report on best practices in NYS elementary schools 5 studies completed Elementary schools (2005) Middle schools (2007) High schools (2008) Middle school science (2009) Critical needs (2011) (best practices for ethnically and linguistically diverse and special needs students - elementary) What makes Most Recent Articles and Book Chapters elementary schools work “Collect, Analyze, Act” (March, 2012) Principal Leadership “Diversity as Strength: How Higher Performing Schools Embrace Diversity and Thrive,” (in press) in Breaking the Mold of Education for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students, edited by Andrea Honigsfeld and Audrey Cohan. R&L Education “Poverty, Performance and Frog Ponds,” (2011). Kappan “From ‘Muddle School’ to Middle School: Building Capacity to Collaborate,” (2011). Middle School Journal “High School Best Practices: Results from Cross-Case Comparisons,” (2011).The High School Journal Methods: Our Samples 7-10 consistently higher-performing schools; 3-6 similar but consistently averageperforming schools, based on 3 years of NYS Assessment data; control for SES, ELL Urban, rural, suburban Favor poverty (F/RL) Open admissions PPE near state average In consultation with Advisory Board Methods: Data Collection • • • • • Make 2-day site visits Interview teachers and administrators Collect documents Observe classrooms (MS science) Analyze, write a case study for each site then do cross-case analyses to identify best practices What makes high schools work } Overall Findings Across all levels – elementary, middle, high – higher-performing students come from schools with the capacity for continuous improvement. They do it through… • Distributed leadership • Collaborative culture and practices • Evidence-based decision making • Shared vision and goal setting Breaking Ranks and NYKids – A Crosswalk Collaborative Leadership/Professional Learning Communities Improved Student Performance Personalizing Your School Environment Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment • Breaking Ranks and NYKids Collaborative Leadership/Professional Learning Communities NYKids – MS BPs • Relationships • Emotional Well-Being • Collaboration • EvidenceBased Decision Making • Shared Vision Improved Student Performance Personalizing Your School Environment Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment NYKids HS BPs • Rigor • Innovation • Transparency • EvidenceBased Decision Making • Strategic Use of Resources Breaking Ranks and NYKids Collaborative Leadership/Professional Learning Communities NYKids – MS BPs • Collaboration • Shared Vision Improved Student Performance Personalizing Your School Environment Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment NYKids HS BPs • Transparency • Strategic Use of Resources • Breaking Ranks and NYKids Collaborative Leadership/Professional Learning Communities Improved Student Performance Personalizing Your School Environment Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment NYKids HS BPs • Rigor • Breaking Ranks and NYKids Collaborative Leadership/Professional Learning Communities Improved Student Performance Personalizing Your School Environment NYKids – MS BPs • Relationships • Emotional Well-Being Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment NYKids HS BPs • Innovation • Breaking Ranks and NYKids Collaborative Leadership/Professional Learning Communities NYKids – MS BPs • Relationships • Emotional Well-Being • Collaboration • EvidenceBased Decision Making • Shared Vision Improved Student Performance Personalizing Your School Environment Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment NYKids HS BPs • Rigor • Innovation • Transparency • EvidenceBased Decision Making • Strategic Use of Resources Breaking Ranks 21st Century Principal Skills and NYKids Inform Educational Leadership Inspire Developing Self and Others Resolving Complex Problems Communication Improve (COMPASS tool) Improve Improve COMPASS Tools and Training • University partnership with school improvement organization • Two-day Initial Institutes • ½-day Follow-up Institute - winter • Full-day Follow-up Institute - spring This has been a great resource to further our thinking and planning within our district. It's so wonderful to connect with other districts as well. - COMPASS Institute Participant 12/9/2010 Step 1: Compare Your Practice From the Middle School COMPASS 24 Step 2: Assess Priorities From the High School COMPASS 25 “Jigsaw” the case studies www.albany.edu/nykids What makes elementary schools work Find and read about your priority in the cross case report. 2005 • Which schools are mentioned? • What ideas do you want to explore further? Cross-Site Analysis – BP Frameworks MS HS Key word collections (also at www.knowyourschoolsny.org) Step 4. Set SMART Goals Write three ways you have used data based on school performance and teacher experience in your school to inform decision making. A few comments about the COMPASS process from the pilot school teams This process was really beneficial – we definitely worked through quite a bit as a team. We now need to execute, evaluate, and re-align our plan. - School A, 7/27/2010 Overall, these two days were very valuable to both myself and my colleagues. The COMPASS institute provided an effective framework to develop district/building goals that will be taken back to our district and serve as a catalyst for necessary discussion and ultimately drive action. - School B, 7/27/2010 GREAT program for us -- it has really formed/framed our work! Great to see qualitative data being just as important as quantitative. Great tool on many levels. Thanks for your hard work. - School C, 12/9/2010 How to use NYKids resources to rally your leadership team • Use the on-line survey http://www.albany.edu/nykids/survey_your_school.php • • • • • Assemble your “dream team” Go through the COMPASS process Monitor your progress Spread the process beyond your school Contact us if you need help… Thank you! Know Your Schools ~ for NY Kids website http://www.albany.edu/nykids/ Email kwilcox1@albany.edu nandress@albany.edu jangelis@albany.edu